September 2014
Volume 1 Issue 10
HBCU DIGEST
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Leadership CONTENTS Publisher Jarrett Carter, Sr. Contributors
5 Letter from the Publisher 6 PRESIDENTIAL PERSPECTIVES By Dr. Brian Johnson 8 STUDENT TRUSTEES
William R. Harvey Brian Johnson
Undergraduates Lay Foundation for HBCU Development By Christina Sturdivant 12 SIT-INS AND CYBER-SOLIDARITY
Imani J. Jackson Christina Sturdivant Cover Art U.S Department of Education Magazine Design La Keita D. Carter HBCU Digest is published monthly by Carter Media Enterprises, LLC. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. HBCU Digest and the HBCU Digest logo are protected through registered trademark. For advertising and subscription information, contact carter@hbcudigest.com.
HBCU Community Maintains Leadership Legacy in Struggle for Justice By Imani J. Jackson 16 THE ADVOCATES Perspectives from the Front Lines of Lobbying, Fundraising and Policy Monitoring By Christina Sturdivant 23 IN CLOSING 2014 National HBCU Conference Opening Remarks By William R. Harvey
You’re sitting in your first class. After initial introductions, you learn that right in front of you is a veteran who has served his country for decades abroad. To your right is a shy young man on his first extended stay since leaving his hometown of Laurel, Mississippi. To your left is an extroverted evangelist and physics major from Nigeria who’s doing research you’ll never be able to pronounce. Finally, just behind you is a biology major from Chicago whose sole passion is to quickly get the foundation from which she someday will return to her neighborhood as a doctor. And you? Well, you immediately realize that you, too, are special. You are an Alabama A&M University student with a powerful mixture of dream, potential and the drive to make it all happen. You are A&M. Nestled in the final stretches of the Appalachians, this hillside campus boasts a location within one of the most liveable cities in the world. Its academics are bolstered by a gifted faculty with a thirst for research and learning. And, diverse undergraduate and graduate degrees offer the more than 5,000 students curricula leading toward Ph.D. degrees in several areas. Join us. Make your first class first-class. From community and regional planning to apparel, merchanising and design to food science and physics--AAMU brings together the world and its views, handing both to you one classroom at a time. Experience Engagement ... Fulfillment ... Celebration!
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Letter from the Publisher Greetings, With much being made of pressing needs in finance, enrollment, awareness building and political positioning, we must become a more informed and active community in supporting our tenured and new presidents and chancellors in the fulfillment of their institutional goals. In this month's issue, we take a closer look at HBCU leadership at varying levels of influence and support. We have purposely examined people and perspectives around the HBCU presidency; advocates who press for more equitable funding and support for black colleges, and student leaders who impact policy both on and off HBCU campuses. And, we are happy to introduce a new feature in our magazine - In Closing. We are honored to launch this special feature with the opening remarks delivered by Hampton University President and Chairman of the White House Board of Advisors on HBCUs, Dr. William R. Harvey, during this month's White House National HBCU Conference. His remarks, some of the strongest and most honest to be delivered on behalf of HBCUs to a national audience, sums up many of the struggles, private frustrations, and dwindling optimism that so many of us have for our institutions. Presidents and chancellors are the face of their respective institutions, but leadership doesn't begin and end on the top floors of administration buildings. It begins with the support and involvement of all HBCU constituents who commit to being integral assets in the development of their campuses. We are all recruiters, fundraisers, political advocates and historians, with important contributions to be made in securing the tradition and ongoing operations at our campuses nationwide. It is easy to blame a president or chancellor when things go wrong, but far more rewarding and challenging to accept the responsibility of leading an institution through a collective, grassroots approach. Yours in Advocacy, !
Jarrett Carter, Sr.
5
Presidential Perspectives By Brian Johnson
During my first 100 days as president of Tuskegee University, I have returned to the correspondence and writings of the institution’s founding principal and first president, Booker T. Washington, to ascertain what made Tuskegee Institute (University) so renowned during his 34-year-long leadership (1881-1915). Each day, the university publishes “The Daily Word from Washington with Presidential Commentary,” and its readers are struck by Mr. Washington’s letters and communiqués to foundations and major transformative donors— outlining the institution’s current environment and his vision for its target environment. When one speaks of the proverbial crisis of the endangered existence of HBCUs—there are (4) important characteristics that one might glean from men and women like Booker T. Washington, Benjamin Mays and Mary McLeod Bethune. A crisis generally speaks to that which is unexpected and unpreventable. However, the crisis of management is entirely preventable and it depends greatly upon the (4) P’s-Preparation-PlanningPurpose-Performance. Preparation—whether forged in the crucible of painful experience or in the diligent training to prepare for the management and leadership of a large university—is critical. Wide-ranging experiences prepare a university leader for a host of issues and constituents that he or she will inevitably confront when situated at the helm. Planning—evidence-based and data-informed planning, not ungrounded and uninformed opinion —is critical in university management and leadership. It is a poor leader indeed that substitutes opinion for planning. Planning is rooted and grounded in the documentable needs and assessment of the university’s current environment. Purpose - An institutional mission should direct an institution’s vision. Also, an institution’s trajectory 6
is inevitably tied to its tradition, and in many ways institutional progress is often stymied for the lack of connection to tradition. Finally, Performance—not pandering and publicity in the press—is the ultimate indicator of successful management and leadership of a university. Whether a leader inherits a strong institution with superb fiscal capacity,or an institution with significant hurdles, documentable progress from institutional baseline that is clear and transparent to all stakeholders is the surest sign of successful university leadership. Booker T. Washington made a point of often remarking: “Let examples answer.” The crisis of management is the greatest crisis confronting leadership in higher education. Men and women behind the position must prepare, plan, have purpose and ultimately perform for successful leadership in any institution of higher learning. Dr. Brian Johnson is the seventh president of Tuskegee University.
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Student Trustees: Undergraduates L By Christina Sturdivant
The inner workings of historically Black colleges and universities are typically formed by individuals who sit as trustees. Seated at the table among these decision makers are a select few students who have the opportunity to engage on behalf of their peers while gaining invaluable experience in organizational governance. For many undergrads, the road to becoming student representatives on university boards of trustees is directed by a passion to better the collegiate life for those around them. Alexis Anderson, a biology major at Bennett College, received her appointment to the board of trustees after being voted 2014-2015 student government association (SGA) president. At the time of SGA elections, there was a wave Bennett Trustee Alexis Anderson of student dissatisfaction with what the college had to offer, which spurred Anderson to take action. “As a student who fell in love with Bennett and who knows Bennett’s worth, I wanted to be an example and I wanted to show and allow other students to feel the type of love that I feel for Bennett,” says Anderson, a Philadelphia, Pa., native. “So I decided to run for SGA president so I could put on programs and activities and give them a different outlook on Bennett and help them to understand that you have a voice, you can use that voice to make a difference on your campus and you don’t necessarily have to go 8
to another school to get involved in the things you want to see.” To become SGA president, Anderson met the requirements of obtaining at least a 3.0 GPA, performing community service hours, having previously served as an SGA member in a different capacity, being in good standing with the college, and most importantly, receiving at least 50 percent of the votes from her peers. Anderson has kicked off the school year on a high note, receiving positive affirmations after the first SGA-led social event of the year. “It’s been a wide variety of awesome feedback that I really do appreciate,” she says. As a member of the board of trustees, she is hoping to experience personal and professional development. “I expect to grow, learn from my mistakes and allow myself to be a good leader and also be a student at the same time,” she says. “[I would like] my sisters to actually see a model who they can follow and know that they can do the same things.” An integral part of serving as both SGA President and student representative to the board of trustees is taking the passion for serving students and effectively communicating students’ needs to those who can provide vital resources; this is exactly what Doran Davis, 2014-2015 SGA President and student representative to the board of trustees at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University plans to do. “My one and only duty is to represent the students on the board of trustees,” says Davis, a journalism and mass communications major from Raleigh, NC. “With everything else that comes with being SGA president, people sometimes forget that your ultimate purpose is to represent the student body and make sure that we do everything in light of what's best for the students.” After two formal interactions with his fellow board
Lay Foundation for HBCU Development members, Davis is elated to work with former alumni and SGA presidents of the university and others who can share their experiences as undergraduate students. Moving forward, not only does Davis plan to keep his fellow students in mind during voting, he also plans to raise concerns of his own on their behalf. The most recent challenge for NC A&T students surrounds the construction of a new student union— a process that will take several years to complete. “How do we make sure that the student lifestyle on campus is still vibrant… how do we make sure that we're still advocating for our students while construction is going on—that’s the main thing that I'm trying to fight for as far as the students go,” says Davis. “We really want to make sure that our students are happy and that they still have a space to commune while we go through this reconstruction period.” While continuing to bring pressing student issues to the board, Davis also plans to take in the value of the opportunity. “I think knowledge is so powerful and when you're in a position like being on the North Carolina A&T Trustee Doran Davis board of trustees, you learn everything from state legislature to public policy to business policy, so I'm learning more about that and how to handle meetings and the information that I [receive],” says Davis.
Most important to the function of a student representative is ensuring that messages are being relayed back to the student body. At Hampton University, Morgan Wilson Hampton Trustee Morgan Wilson plans to utilize the school newspaper as a message board for SGA success. “A lot of times, students don’t even know how hard we're working or how much time we put in, so we're definitely going to put a better effort towards publicizing to the students what's going on,” says Wilson, a Detroit native. Among smaller student-related issues, Wilson’s top priority for her term is adding amenities to the student health center. Unlike Anderson and Davis, her sole responsibility is student representative to the board of trustees, a separate position from SGA president at Hampton. “I decided to run for student representative to the board of trustees because it’s a very passionate position for me,” says Wilson. “It was appealing to me because I’m a business management student and I felt like I could use the skills that I learned at Hampton University as a business student and apply them while serving the student body,” Wilson also plans to be at the forefront of student affairs at all times from engaging with student leaders to having flexible office hours for the entire student body. Whether honoring sisterhood, aggie pride or their home by the sea, these young leaders make their voices heard from those at the top. 9
Sit-Ins and Cy HBCU Community Maintains Leade By: Imani J. Jackson
As the adage goes, “The personal is political.” Personhood politics become more complex when immutable characteristics, like race, shape national policy and discourse. In this vein, we should remember the hundreds of freshmen at Howard University’s orientation in August whose solidarity picture and hashtag “#DontShoot” went viral. The photo displayed a sea of somber brown faces and pink palms—a universal sign of submission, the same position unarmed black teen Michael Brown assumed when Darren Wilson, a white police officer, shot and killed the would-be college student and left his body baking in the Ferguson, Missouri sun for hours. Howard students translated common pain. They captured an identity commingled with protests, sit-ins, letters to leaders, and calls for accountability. They inspired students at other HBCUs, and PWIs alike, to take similar photos, as American police officers’ mistreatment of and deadly encounters with black people continue. Symbols gain traction, but HBCU students and alumni back up indignation with action. Ebony.com Senior Editor, Jamilah Lemieux, a Howard alumna, recently traveled to Ferguson to be with the city’s people and provide “firsthand coverage” to Ebony’s readership. She cautioned domestic blacks, “Do not take your eyes off this fight, our fight, for even a minute.” In Tallahassee, the Dream Defenders, a collection of activists in a non-profit organization, also protested for Brown. As reported by WCTV, Dream Defender Troy Bacon said, “We just want to let people know that we stand with you and we agree and we are fighting this fight with you. The more people who are in the movement the more people who see this and the more people who are around the country then we can 12
yber Solidarity: ership Legacy in Struggle for Justice
understand and organize." The Dream Defenders, a brainchild of FAMU, FSU and Tallahassee Community College students, fought a similar fight a couple years ago, when they marched from Daytona Beach to Sanford, Florida, where George Zimmerman shot and killed unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin. That march was about Martin’s wrongful killing and Zimmerman’s freedom, as he was not charged for more than 40 days after the shooting. The spirit of modern protest parallels that of four brave black North Carolina A&T University students in 1960. Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr., Joseph McNeil and David Richmond, sat at a racially segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter, endured vitriol and requested service. Employees refused them. Although the students were commanded to leave, they remained. Similar boycotts occurred throughout the nation. Civil rights became a national focus and communities gradually desegregated after the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown vs. Board of Education overruled Plessy vs. Ferguson and its allowance for “separate and equal” facilities. Ultimately, HBCU students come from good stock. Our legacies continue. Our purposes remain. We can also acknowledge flaws and work to remedy institutional issues. Yet, we are also uniquely positioned to cultivate leaders and doers. We graduate alumni who become doctors, teachers, lawyers, engineers and scientists. We add to a body of knowledge through our scholarship and social justice pursuits. The late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, a Howard Law School alumnus, once said, “Sometimes history takes things into its own hands.” And yet, HBCU hands are up. See our somber brown faces and pink palms? 13
The Advocates: Perspectives from the Front Lines of Lobbying, Fundraising and Policy Monitoring By Christina Sturdivant
Thurgood Marshall College Fund President, CEO Johnny C. Taylor (Getty Images)
As President and CEO of The National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (NAFEO), no day is the same for Attorney Lezli Baskerville, who is charged with representing the presidents and chancellors at 135 Historically and Predominantly Black Institutions (PBIs). On any given day, Baskerville can be found testifying before education commissions, engaging with students on college campuses and meeting with partnering organizations across the country—all while staying abreast on the latest news with impact on NAFEO member institutions. However, on a daily basis, one task persists. “There will be some aspect that’s designed to educate, motivate and move stakeholders to decision making,” says Baskerville. Whether campaigning in offices on Capitol Hill or boardrooms at corporate companies, Baskerville’s agenda is clear and shaped by member priorities: Educating African American males, increasing retention and graduation rates and the globalization and internationalization of HBCU campuses, among others. “Whomever I have these meetings with are people whom we believe have something that will enhance and expand the uniqueness and enriching nature of the education we try to provide for 500,000 students who are in HBCUs and PBIs,” she says. Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., President and CEO of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF)— partnering organization of NAFEO—also finds himself among the same influencers when going about his daily routine of seeking financial support for the organization. In a post-civil rights era, Taylor has come to realize, the pursuit of securing monetary resources is increasingly challenging. “You can’t use the arguments that you've used in the past, it just doesn’t work anymore,” he says. “No longer can you guilt white people into giving you money and you can’t guilt black people into sending [students] to your college just because they're Black —that model is gone.” With American college debt at an all-time high, parents of the 21st century find themselves paying their own college loans, as well as their children’s, making the appeal of arbitrarily donating to a
scholarship fund lost in translation. The act of strategic persuasion has become a vital component of Taylor’s position. When seeking contributions from foundations and corporations, a compelling case for reciprocity must be established. In this regard, Taylor leads with the graying and browning of the American workforce—the majority of the professional workforce will soon be consumed by what were once minority groups. “The workforce is not going to be majority white in the future, so why not come to people who know and have experience in educating a brown workforce,” says Taylor. “This is about letting me get you a pipeline of diverse talent—that’s what HBCUs do well.” Outside of the corporate arena, HBCUs also specialize in graduating students who can tackle societal issues from shared experiences from relatable teachers to competent social workers. “You make the case that at the end of the day, HBCUs are solving America's problems in a real way,” says Taylor. “Harvard can give you Wall Street educated and prepared students all day, but that doesn’t solve America's problem—our problem areas have to be resolved by people who come from those problem areas and know how to, therefore, deal with those problem areas. that is [HBCU’s] strongest value proposition.” As the TMCF tagline goes, “where education pays off,” success in Taylor’s advocacy comes when his plea for support is backed with financial gain. “I know I've hit it when I sit across the table from an investor and I make them understand that this is what I can do for you and this is what I need from you to get that done and they do it—they give me the money.” In marking daily accomplishments at NAFEO, Baskerville has learned that successful leadership accounts for the unexpected. “Success has to be assessed by the calendar that you establish and the things that you anticipate doing, but then there's always these unknowns,” she says. “They're going to come and if you're not prepared for them and you don’t respond to them, then that has to be factored into success.” Continued on next page 17
Many roadblocks are derived from internal conflict, such as the turnover of leadership at HBCUs. Within the past two years, Baskerville has seen a shift in over 30 of 105 HBCU presidents and chancellors at her member institutions. “When there is no longevity or even a time where a president can get his or her hands around tremendous opportunities and the challenges on their campuses, it makes it difficult for them and for the communities they serve,” says Baskerville, “As their membership association, it makes it certainly more challenging for us.” However, another of Baskerville’s preferred methods has become turning challenges into opportunities. In the past, presidents and chancellors would serve for decades at a time, potentially stunting the growth and opportunity for new resources, says Baskerville. While the current state of leadership turnover may provide instability among university leadership, it also allows for openings that lend to the expansion of ideas, skills and experiences. Further, Baskerville acknowledges NAFEO's role in ending this trend. “The transitions by in large have to do with resources and the fact that, despite the tremendous outcomes that our schools are having, they are given fewer resources than their historically white counterparts— they don’t get a proportionate share of public resources commensurate with their outcomes and outputs,” says Baskerville, “So we are working on all of that and I'm privileged to still be in that space and I'm prayerful that I am making an affirmative difference.” For advocacy leaders, the drive to move forward despite setbacks comes from understanding and appreciating the value of HBCUs and moreover, the excitement to serve a dynamic population of youth. “One of my greatest joys is the time that I spend on our campuses and the times that I spend with our students,” says Baskerville. “They're exceptionally NAFEO President, CEO Lezli Baskerville (Joe Bellacomo/Albany Herald) prepared; they can thrive in any environment; they are determined; they are eager, and they are receptive to learning and so I’m energized because of careers with salaries that outpace their entire households. their excellence and their thirst for knowledge and mentorship.” “Every generation should significantly improve,” says Likewise, for Taylor the reward lies in providing life- Taylor. “So if you take a kid from whatever their background is and make their lives appreciably better altering opportunities for students, many of whom than it was before, then education has paid off.” graduate college with the satisfaction of beginning 18
MAKING HISTORY RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!
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The faces of #nationbuilding
Welcome to Paul Quinn College, the home of the Quinnite Nation.
last week it was announced that eleven public universities including Arizona State University, Georgia State University, Iowa State Good morning. I want to thank Dr. Cooper and his staff for University, Michigan State all of their hard work in planning this conference. As University, Oregon State Chairman of the President’s Board of Advisors on University, Purdue University, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, on behalf of the The Ohio State University, Board, I am honored and very pleased to welcome you to the University of California this year’s HBCU Conference, Innovators for Future Riverside, University of Central Success. Florida, University of Kansas, and the University of Texas at I want to thank President Obama for his appreciation of the Austin, and six national unique mission of HBCUs, their history of achievement foundations including the Ford Foundation; The Bill and against the odds, and their critical role in the future of our Melinda Gates Foundation; Lumina Foundation; Kresge country. He knows that the nation can’t get to where it needsFoundation; USA Funds; and Markle Foundation have to be without the help of HBCUs. formed an alliance to identify and share best-practices in degree attainment programs for low-income, minority and Having said that, we face enormous challenges. These are first generation students. Grant funding totaling $5.7 difficult times for our institutions, our students and their families. Federal support for HBCUs is showing an alarming million has been designated for the program. The fact that not one HBCU was included in this alliance is appalling. downward trend, and our friends in Washington need to know that we are watching and counting. For examples, over HBCUs were serving first-generation, minority and lowthe last several years, all of the major Title IV programs had income students when some of these institutions were modifications and adjustments which make it much harder denying their entry or were not even in existence. for HBCUs to get funding. We all know of the Parent PLUS Please know that the complaint is not that this alliance is debacle that resulted in these loans to our students being seeking to serve low-income, minority and first-generation down. Pell grants to our students are down. Direct loans to students. The complaint is that the alliance does not include our students are down. Graduate subsidies were eliminated. any HBCUs—the experts that have been serving this In addition to student support, overall support to Black population for over a century. If the alliance had checked colleges is down. All of these changes had a significant with schools such as Hampton, they would have known that impact in terms of availability of funding for students. Now we have been using predictive analysis to insure success for more than ever, we need to support our own institutions and decades. One wonders why they want to spend money to relet our voices be heard. invent the wheel. It seems to me that if the participating
IN CLOSING...
foundations are interested in securing expert data, they Additionally, information compiled by the White House Initiative on HBCUs for FY 2011 showed that out of the total should consider funding an alliance of 10-12 HBCUs that have been doing this work for years. contracts and grants awarded to all institutions of higher education, those to HBCUs from 16 federal agencies totaled We should let the public know that this kind of action is less than 5% and 12 agencies totaled less than 3%. When one unacceptable. With these kinds of insidious actions being looks at the awards by categories such as scholarships; taken, it is obvious that we have to do as we have always tuition assistance; research and development; administrative done, and that is work harder and work smarter. We must infrastructure; and training, 8 out of 12 categories were become more vocal and more involved in support of the funded at less than 3%. wonderful work that we continue to do. This is one of the We are living in a time when too many people who are not reasons this conference is so important. It gives us an affiliated with nor have ever attended or worked at an HBCU opportunity to communicate with one another and to work are trying to tell our stories. Award-winning journalist Tony together to make HBCUs and all of higher education better. Brown once told me that if we do not tell our own stories, I encourage you to take full advantage of this conference. then it becomes HIS-story and not history. All of us in this Make some new friends in Washington. Insist that they get room need to commit ourselves to telling the HBCU story to know your institution, its priorities, its accomplishments because we have first-hand knowledge. We cannot allow and its capabilities. others to be the experts on who and what we are as an HBCU community. Hampton University President and Chairman of the White House Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Millions of dollars are being designated to majority Universities Dr. William R. Harvey institutions and other organizations to tell the HBCU stories. Can you imagine that? Other millions are being designated National HBCU Week Conference Opening Plenary Session to develop best practices to serve the students who have Remarks, September, 22, 2014, Washington D.C. traditionally been served by HBCUs. For an example, just
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